Councilmembers ready to get to work
Correction: Hagele only lives two miles from downtown, not 4 1/2.
In the last city council meeting of the year Vice Mayor David Hagele was declared the new mayor of Healdsburg after a 5 – 0 vote secured his spot on the dais. Newly elected council members Leah Gold, incumbent, and newcomer Evelyn Mitchell, were also officially appointed and sworn in on Monday night.
Gold was appointed as vice mayor, replacing Hagele, and with council seats shifting around, Monday evening also marked former Mayor Brigette Mansell’s final day on the council.
Mansell announced earlier this year that her mayoral run would be her last since joining the council in 2014 after a four-year run.
City of Healdsburg spokesperson Rhea Borja said of Monday’s mayoral decision process, “Someone on the council will make a nomination. They can nominate themselves or someone else. They will have a short discussion followed by a vote.”
The deciding vote for Hagele was made when Councilmember Shaun McCaffery made a motion nominating the former vice mayor. All council members then unanimously voted to appoint Hagele after a second on the motion was made.
Prior to his appointment, a few comments were heard.
Windsor Mayor Dominic Foppoli welcomed the new councilmembers and offered thanks to former Mayor Mansell for her service.
Fitch Mountain Road resident, Rosie Fabian also spoke and reiterated her support for Hagele. “I want to say, this is the guy. Any of you would serve fabulously but this is the guy,” she said.
Hagele, who has been on city council since 2016, hopes to work on parks and town connectivity and affordable housing as the new mayor.
“Ever since I started campaigning it has always been about making smart decisions with good sense and I really want to work on creating an actionable affordable housing master plan. I want a plan that we can actually take action on instead of just give direction on. I also want to work on economic development for Healdsburg and work to help existing businesses grow. Connectivity (is also important),” he added. “We live in Parkland Farms and it is not easy for my daughter and I to ride (our bikes) downtown — the roads are bad. It (Healdsburg) is only 4 1/2 (square miles), so there shouldn’t be any reason (someone) cannot ride their bike (or walk from one end of town to the other) or to the farmers’ market.”
Gold and Mitchell also mentioned their goals as newly elected city council members.
Gold, who nabbed the first council seat with 3,055 votes, wants to focus on affordable housing and balancing the needs of tourists and residents.
Regarding affordable housing Gold told the Tribune in a previous article, “We need to find some other funding sources, whether it is grants, bonds or sales tax… We have to explore these options because I feel like affordable housing is the right thing to do for people who are struggling, but it also is the right thing to do for our community, culturally and economically.”
In terms of catering to the needs of both residents and tourists, Gold said she is in support of the recent hotel moratorium; however, she also added that she doesn’t see tourism as a negative. “It creates a lot of cultural advantages,” she told the Tribune.
Newcomer Evelyn Mitchell garnered 2,779 votes and said she wants to focus on affordable housing and concise agenda setting.
Upon taking her seat as councilmember, Mitchell addressed the council and said, “Thank you to everyone. I am honored to be here with my fellow councilmembers and I would really like to say thank you to my mother-in-law. She is really the one who encouraged me to run for the council and, of course, my husband Tom.
Mitchell added, “I am really looking forward to getting to work.”
But before the new mayor and councilmembers got to work with the next agenda item appointing councilmembers to various boards and committees, former Mayor Mansell had a few parting words.
Mansell cited her time on the council as a learning experience and as a successful run in terms of creating more transparency.
“While I really wanted to help with affordable housing, which I am so glad Measure P passed, which will help, I also wanted to focus on integrity,” she said, referencing Atticus Finch from “To Kill a Mockingbird” as one of her favorite characters of integrity. “Integrity is very important to bring to the dais and I also stood for transparency. We got the live video (for the meetings) and a communications person, (which is great.)”
Mansell also mentioned she hopes the new council will continue to focus on housing, the arts and financial growth.
Mayor Hagele expressed thanks for Mansell’s time and in honor of her love of poetry, the city’s literary laureate, Russ Messing, read a parting poem prior to Mansell’s stepping down.
Even though the final meeting of the year was focused on ceremony and celebration of new and old council members, Hagele reminded council members that a busy agenda lays ahead for the new year and summed up his eagerness to get to work with a simple statement, “Let’s get to work!”
